Authors I Want to Catch Up With
Jan. 17th, 2019 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
convenientaliasSo tonight I'm thinking about authors and such and I thought I'd do a post of authors whose backlists I want to catch up with bc they come out with a lot of good content or I just discovered them lately but they have a huge backlist and...it's difficult...
Some of these I don't actually want to read ALL their books, I just want to read more than the couple I have. And this list includes everything from queer romance to historical and literary fiction--though it only includes authors that I've read at least two books by them and intend to read at least two more. Just some goals. So. here goes. In reverse alphabetical order, no less.
1. Fiona Zedde
Currently I've read: Nightshade (a novella) and When She Says Yes (a collection of short stories).
In general Fiona Zedde writes f/f fiction, sometimes romance, sometimes erotic, sometimes other. She's written like... 23 books... and I've only read two. I'm interested in her bc she's one of the few black lesfic writers I know of (I should probs broaden my horizons) and also bc she's one of the few lesfic writers I've read who goes unapologetically dark when she wants to.
I don't actually want to read all 23 of her books bc that much erotica would be overwhelming (I don't even like erotica that much) but I do want to read Hungry For It, Broken In Soft Places, and Desire at Dawn, bc I own one of them and the other two I know I can order through my library system. ...arbitrary reasoning, I know, lols. If I could read any book by her I'd probably add Bliss and Rise of the Rain Queen to that list.
2. V.E. Schwab
Well, I feel like she's kind of an obvious choice. But I loved the Shades of Magic series and Vicious, so at the very least I have to read Vengeful. Ideally I'd like to read some of her other books too, but I don't have any super defined goals about that.
3. Mary Renault
I'm soooooort of doing an academic project on her (read: I'm up to my gills and super stressed about it tbh), but as of now I've only read Fire From Heaven, The Charioteer, and The Friendly Young Ladies. I own about seven more books by her so right now I'm trying to decide which are likely to be helpful and which ones blatantly aren't. I do really like her tho... she has some weird problematic views on queer identity but so much of her writing is intensely relatable and real. I'm amazed that a writer like her exists.
Current status--deciding between The King Must Die, The Mask of Apollo, The Last of the Wine, or something completely different. I'm in kind of a tangle. Too many options! I might also have to read one or two biographies of her for the project and goddamn I do not have time for this.
4. Anchee Min
I really liked Anchee Min's duology Empress Orchid and The Last Empress, biographical novels about Empress Ci Xi. She's written at least six other books and I can get 4 or 5 of those through my library, so I should try at least some! I also want to seek out other biographies of Empress Ci Xi so I can get different perspectives on what kind of woman she was.
5. Katrina Jackson
Okay, I think catching up with this woman's backlist is...roughly doable? probably not if she keeps producing at the rate she currently does? I've read two books by her, From Scratch and Small Town Secrets, both novella-length, but she's already written a total of ten books and as far as I can tell they were all written in the past year or so. Anyways she's one of the few fluffy romance writers I like, usually I find fluff kind of boring but she pulls it off. And she has a lot of different kinds of stuff, pairings of m/f, f/f, m/m/f, m/f/f...
Currently I own one more book by her and can access the rest through Kindle Unlimited but in mid-February I will lose KU and then I will be distraught... and have to either buy the rest of her books or give up I guess.
6. Dara Horn
I've read two books by Dara Horn currently--Eternal Life and The World to Come--and I love her magical realism, her characters, just her tone, everything. She writes Jewish literary fiction that's kind of hard to classify and it's so good. Anyways she's written four other novels and I want to read all of them.
7. Rosamund Hodge
So it's been a while but Hodge is one of my fave YA authors. I've read Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound by her, and I'd like to read her three other YA novels. If I can get ahold of them.
8. Patricia Highsmith
All I've read by Highsmith is The Price of Salt and Two Faces of January but that's enough to want more! I love her suspense writing--she's definitely better at that than romance lols no shade Carol (yes shade, but I mean, it's partly just the time period and Highsmith's life was kind of depressing so it's all good).
Ideally I'd like to start by reading Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. So we'll see if that happens.
9. Talia Hibbert
Like Katrina Jackson, catching up on this backlist might be a fool's dream. Hibbert has only been publishing since 2017 and she's published 15 works, most of them full length novels. So that's terrifying! I've only read five of those (the best two being Bad for the Boss and Wanna Bet?) but I actually own another four bc I REALLY LIKE Hibbert and she had some nice sales so I snatched some up. So yeah I definitely need to catch up there.
The three I really need to read are: A Girl Like Her, Undone by the Ex-Con, and Sweet on the Greek. If you can't tell by the titles, Hibbert writes m/f romance, of the interracial sort. They're really soft and nice but with STRONG FEELINGS. omg.
10. Mina V. Esguerra
Again, idk if I can actually swing this, but. I have read two of Esguerra's romances, That Kind of Guy and No Strings Attached, and they were both contemplative and lovely. Esguerra has written another... I can't even keep track... fifteen books? They're all novellas but again the only way I'd be able to access them without buying them all is KU so I'd have to sprint them all in one month. Fun.
I'll probably try to read at least two more before February steals my KU privileges :(
11. Cynthia Dane/Hildred Billings
Two pseudonyms for the same author of f/f romance (and m/f romance, but I'm not even gonna try to tackle that backlist). I've read FIVE books by her in the past year and a half bc why not. Two were amazing, two were mediocre, and one I straight up didn't like. So...mixed feelings. But I currently own three more books by her (...I got carried away, they were on sale as ebooks) so at some point I'm gonna have to do it.
And btw, if you're ever thinking of tackling her--or just want good millionaire f/f romance in general--I'd recommend With This Ring and On the Rocks.
12. KJ Charles
I mean you probably know of KJ Charles.
I've read three books by her--Henchmen of Zenda, Think of England, and The Magpie Lord. I was surprised by how much I liked her bc I do NOT trust hype and she's pretty damn hyped. Next up... I'd like to finish the Charm of Magpies series. But we'll see. I might just go with whatever I can get from the library lols. Which might just be the Society of Gentleman, to me less interesting.
...so. Those are some reading goals for 2019. I probably won't be able to read ALL of these authors this year, but we'll see. For now I'm gonna focus on the ones I can binge-read with KU!
Any thoughts? Know any of these authors? I'd love to hear any specific recs to prioritize on these backlists... or, what authors do you want to catch up with?
Some of these I don't actually want to read ALL their books, I just want to read more than the couple I have. And this list includes everything from queer romance to historical and literary fiction--though it only includes authors that I've read at least two books by them and intend to read at least two more. Just some goals. So. here goes. In reverse alphabetical order, no less.
1. Fiona Zedde
Currently I've read: Nightshade (a novella) and When She Says Yes (a collection of short stories).
In general Fiona Zedde writes f/f fiction, sometimes romance, sometimes erotic, sometimes other. She's written like... 23 books... and I've only read two. I'm interested in her bc she's one of the few black lesfic writers I know of (I should probs broaden my horizons) and also bc she's one of the few lesfic writers I've read who goes unapologetically dark when she wants to.
I don't actually want to read all 23 of her books bc that much erotica would be overwhelming (I don't even like erotica that much) but I do want to read Hungry For It, Broken In Soft Places, and Desire at Dawn, bc I own one of them and the other two I know I can order through my library system. ...arbitrary reasoning, I know, lols. If I could read any book by her I'd probably add Bliss and Rise of the Rain Queen to that list.
2. V.E. Schwab
Well, I feel like she's kind of an obvious choice. But I loved the Shades of Magic series and Vicious, so at the very least I have to read Vengeful. Ideally I'd like to read some of her other books too, but I don't have any super defined goals about that.
3. Mary Renault
I'm soooooort of doing an academic project on her (read: I'm up to my gills and super stressed about it tbh), but as of now I've only read Fire From Heaven, The Charioteer, and The Friendly Young Ladies. I own about seven more books by her so right now I'm trying to decide which are likely to be helpful and which ones blatantly aren't. I do really like her tho... she has some weird problematic views on queer identity but so much of her writing is intensely relatable and real. I'm amazed that a writer like her exists.
Current status--deciding between The King Must Die, The Mask of Apollo, The Last of the Wine, or something completely different. I'm in kind of a tangle. Too many options! I might also have to read one or two biographies of her for the project and goddamn I do not have time for this.
4. Anchee Min
I really liked Anchee Min's duology Empress Orchid and The Last Empress, biographical novels about Empress Ci Xi. She's written at least six other books and I can get 4 or 5 of those through my library, so I should try at least some! I also want to seek out other biographies of Empress Ci Xi so I can get different perspectives on what kind of woman she was.
5. Katrina Jackson
Okay, I think catching up with this woman's backlist is...roughly doable? probably not if she keeps producing at the rate she currently does? I've read two books by her, From Scratch and Small Town Secrets, both novella-length, but she's already written a total of ten books and as far as I can tell they were all written in the past year or so. Anyways she's one of the few fluffy romance writers I like, usually I find fluff kind of boring but she pulls it off. And she has a lot of different kinds of stuff, pairings of m/f, f/f, m/m/f, m/f/f...
Currently I own one more book by her and can access the rest through Kindle Unlimited but in mid-February I will lose KU and then I will be distraught... and have to either buy the rest of her books or give up I guess.
6. Dara Horn
I've read two books by Dara Horn currently--Eternal Life and The World to Come--and I love her magical realism, her characters, just her tone, everything. She writes Jewish literary fiction that's kind of hard to classify and it's so good. Anyways she's written four other novels and I want to read all of them.
7. Rosamund Hodge
So it's been a while but Hodge is one of my fave YA authors. I've read Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound by her, and I'd like to read her three other YA novels. If I can get ahold of them.
8. Patricia Highsmith
All I've read by Highsmith is The Price of Salt and Two Faces of January but that's enough to want more! I love her suspense writing--she's definitely better at that than romance lols no shade Carol (yes shade, but I mean, it's partly just the time period and Highsmith's life was kind of depressing so it's all good).
Ideally I'd like to start by reading Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. So we'll see if that happens.
9. Talia Hibbert
Like Katrina Jackson, catching up on this backlist might be a fool's dream. Hibbert has only been publishing since 2017 and she's published 15 works, most of them full length novels. So that's terrifying! I've only read five of those (the best two being Bad for the Boss and Wanna Bet?) but I actually own another four bc I REALLY LIKE Hibbert and she had some nice sales so I snatched some up. So yeah I definitely need to catch up there.
The three I really need to read are: A Girl Like Her, Undone by the Ex-Con, and Sweet on the Greek. If you can't tell by the titles, Hibbert writes m/f romance, of the interracial sort. They're really soft and nice but with STRONG FEELINGS. omg.
10. Mina V. Esguerra
Again, idk if I can actually swing this, but. I have read two of Esguerra's romances, That Kind of Guy and No Strings Attached, and they were both contemplative and lovely. Esguerra has written another... I can't even keep track... fifteen books? They're all novellas but again the only way I'd be able to access them without buying them all is KU so I'd have to sprint them all in one month. Fun.
I'll probably try to read at least two more before February steals my KU privileges :(
11. Cynthia Dane/Hildred Billings
Two pseudonyms for the same author of f/f romance (and m/f romance, but I'm not even gonna try to tackle that backlist). I've read FIVE books by her in the past year and a half bc why not. Two were amazing, two were mediocre, and one I straight up didn't like. So...mixed feelings. But I currently own three more books by her (...I got carried away, they were on sale as ebooks) so at some point I'm gonna have to do it.
And btw, if you're ever thinking of tackling her--or just want good millionaire f/f romance in general--I'd recommend With This Ring and On the Rocks.
12. KJ Charles
I mean you probably know of KJ Charles.
I've read three books by her--Henchmen of Zenda, Think of England, and The Magpie Lord. I was surprised by how much I liked her bc I do NOT trust hype and she's pretty damn hyped. Next up... I'd like to finish the Charm of Magpies series. But we'll see. I might just go with whatever I can get from the library lols. Which might just be the Society of Gentleman, to me less interesting.
...so. Those are some reading goals for 2019. I probably won't be able to read ALL of these authors this year, but we'll see. For now I'm gonna focus on the ones I can binge-read with KU!
Any thoughts? Know any of these authors? I'd love to hear any specific recs to prioritize on these backlists... or, what authors do you want to catch up with?
no subject
Date: 2019-01-17 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-17 10:22 pm (UTC)Well, I'll be optimistic about Society of Gentlemen. I do like politics! and yeah, m/m that ignores or trashes women is really a pet peeve, and Charles avoids it pretty well. I think my favorite female character of hers currently is her rendition of Antoinette de Mauban in Henchmen of Zenda. I know some ppl really like the women in Think of England, too... they were nice but I would have liked to see more of them.
But, for female characters, I suppose I should depend more on my f/f authors lols. Speaking of which, it's pretty rare to find an f/f author that writes good men into their stories too... currently I'm impressed with the male characters in the Alpennia series, but often in f/f books the men are either all terrible or so minor you could forget they exist. I guess that's a bit less annoying bc it's not misogynistic, but really, queer authors that can strike a balance are pretty great.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-14 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-17 09:56 pm (UTC)How's the Renault thing coming along, if you're up for talking about it?
no subject
Date: 2019-01-17 10:16 pm (UTC)And trying to figure out which book(s) I should still read in order to fit them into the project.
On the subject of Anchee Min: I really liked the duology of hers I've read! Can't speak for her other books.
On Billings: I am surprised you've heard of her but I guess it's not that surprising. She writes a looot of f/f and it's really quite popular. I'm getting a bit disillusioned with her, tho... still, I want to read a little more. Give her a chance to win me back.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-18 01:44 am (UTC)I've added Empress Orchid to my TBR. What Billings books do you recommend?
no subject
Date: 2019-01-18 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-18 03:51 am (UTC)How does Kindle lending work? I had no idea it was a thing until now.(I don't have a Kindle but I have the app.)
no subject
Date: 2019-01-18 04:07 am (UTC)1. I go to the page of the book (assuming I own it and assuming it allows for lending, which some books do and some books don't, but Billings does allow for lending and I do own these books)
2. It offers at the top the option for me to lend. I click the link, go to the lending page, and send it to you. Then you get an email about it, you retrieve the book, and you have it for a period of two weeks.
I'm bad at describing but it basically works like that.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-18 04:15 am (UTC)If it's not too much to ask, could you lend it to me next week? I'm in the middle of a book at the moment, and two weeks is probably just enough time to read something the length of On the Rocks.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-18 04:49 am (UTC)and yeah, On the Rocks took me a while, so. good to have some time for it.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-18 07:31 am (UTC)I'm reading The Savage Altar by Asa Larsson. It's the first in a Swedish murder mystery series, and there's also a TV series based on the books, which I just finished too. The book isn't amazing, I just really like Scandi noir, lol.